Methods and systems for authorizing call forwarding

ABSTRACT

A call forwarding server in a telephony network is configured to provide an authorization function during activation of a call forwarding service. In response to receiving a forwarding request including initiating and terminating telephone numbers (TN), the call forwarding server generates and sends a request for the terminating TN to obtain authorization for the forwarding service. In response to receiving an authorization response for enabling call forwarding, the call forwarding server enables call forwarding for the initiating TN by updating a call forwarding record to include an entry including the initiating TN and the terminating TN. Communications placed to the initiating TN are automatically forwarded to the terminating TN once the forwarding service is enabled.

BACKGROUND

A call forwarding service allows a user to forward calls placed to afirst telephone number such that the calls are forwarded to a secondtelephone number. To activate the call forwarding service, a user of theline or device corresponding to the first telephone number typicallydials a code, such as “*72,” followed by the second telephone number. Aswitch or the like in the telephone network detects the activation codedialed by the user and turns on the call forwarding function in thenetwork. Once the call forwarding service is activated, the networkroutes all calls placed to the first telephone number to the line ordevice identified by the second telephone number. To de-activate thecall forwarding service, the user of the first telephone number dials acode, such as “*73”. Other techniques may be used to turn ON and turnOFF call forwarding, for example, when the user is operating a devicenot directly associated with the initiating number for which calls areto be forwarded. For a smartphone, an application may configure thephone to do the dialing automatically, in response to simpler selectioninputs by the user.

The call forwarding service does not require any authorization duringactivation, and in particular does not require any authorization fromthe part of a user of the device that receives calls directed to thesecond telephone number. A user of the device associated with the secondtelephone number may thus receive calls forwarded to the secondtelephone number without wanting to receive such calls. A need thereforeexists for a call forwarding system that requires authorization by aparty who will receive forwarded calls in order to enable or activate acall forwarding service.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawing figures depict one or more implementations in accord withthe present teachings, by way of example only, not by way of limitation.In the figures, like reference numerals refer to the same or similarelements.

FIG. 1 is a high-level functional block diagram of a system forproviding an authorization service for call forwarding.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustratively showing communication flowduring an operation to setup and authorize a call forwarding service.

FIG. 3 is a high-level functional block diagram of an example of asystem of networks/devices that provide various communications for userequipment and support an example of the authorization service for callforwarding.

FIG. 4 is a simplified functional block diagram of a computer that maybe configured as a host or server, for example, to function as the callforwarding server (CFS) in the systems of FIG. 1 or 3.

FIG. 5 is a simplified functional block diagram of a personal computeror other work station or terminal device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth by way of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding ofthe relevant teachings. In other instances, well known methods,procedures, components, and/or circuitry have been described at arelatively high-level, without detail, in order to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring aspects of the present teachings.

The various methods and systems disclosed herein relate to providing anauthorization function during activation of a call forwarding service.

A call forwarding service enables a user of a first user equipmentdevice (UE) having a first telephone number (TN) to forward calls placedto the first TN to a second UE having a second TN. When the callforwarding service is activated, calls placed and messages sent to thefirst TN are automatically routed to the second TN so that they may bereceived on the second UE. In general, the setup of the call forwardingservice is performed from the first UE, and requires neitherauthorization nor confirmation from the second UE for activation.

An improved call forwarding service is discussed by way of examplebelow. In that service example, a call forwarding request is received ata call forwarding server (CFS). The call forwarding request includes acode for requesting call forwarding services (e.g., a code such as “*72”for identifying the request as a call forwarding request), andidentification for an originating TN (also referred to as an initiatingTN) and a terminating TN (also referred to as a destination TN). Ingeneral in an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) system, the call forwardingrequest may be received at the CFS from a Call Session Control Function(CSCF) server which received the request from the first UE and forwardedthe request to the CFS. Upon receiving the call forwarding request, theCFS sends an authorization request message for the terminating TNidentified in the forwarding request. If an authorization responsemessage is received for the terminating TN at the CFS, the CFSauthorizes the call forwarding and updates a call forwarding record toinclude an entry including the initiating TN and the terminating TN. Inthe example, the CFS additionally sends a forwarding response messagefor the sender of the initial forwarding request message. In an IMSsystem, the forwarding response message may be sent from the CFS to theCSCF, and forwarded from the CSCF to the first UE associated with theinitiating TN. The CFS can also send a forwarding enable message to theMedia Resource Function (MRF) server, such that the MRF sends aconfirmation tone or message to the UE associated with the initiatingTN.

Reference now is made in detail to the examples illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and discussed below. FIG. 1 illustratively shows ahigh-level functional block diagram of a system 100 for providing anauthorization service for call forwarding.

The system 100 for providing the authorization service for callforwarding includes a telephony network 101 for providing telephoneservices between two or more user equipment (UE) terminals 103 a, 103 b,103 c (referenced generally as UE temiinals 103). A user equipmentterminal 103 may correspond to a mobile telephone terminal (e.g., amobile station MS), a wireline telephone terminal, or the like. Eachuser equipment terminal 103 has a telephone number (TN) associatedtherewith. The telephony network 101 may provide voice communicationservices between two or more user equipment terminals 103, as well asmessaging, data, and other communication services. The telephony network101 may also provide communication services between user equipmentterminals 103 and other types of devices (not shown in FIG. 1), such asproviding IP-based data communication services between user equipmentterminals and computers connected to the telephony network through theInternet. Each UE 103 can include one or more of a processor, a display,a user input device, a transceiver (or receiver and transmittercircuitry), and a non-volatile memory for storing programminginstructions for execution on the processor.

The system 100 includes a call forwarding server (CFS) 105 for providingcall forwarding services between user equipment terminals 103. The callforwarding CFS 105 can provide call forwarding service for a particularTN associated with a UE terminal 103. In an example, the call forwardingCFS 105 may be configured to forward communications addressed to aparticular TN (i.e., an originating TN) to a UE associated with adifferent TN (i.e., a terminating TN). When call forwarding is enabled,the call forwarding CFS 105 directs communications addressed to theoriginating TN to the UE associated with the terminating TN. As aresult, telephone calls, messaging service messages, and/or other typesof communications are forwarded and received on the UE associated withthe terminating TN. In addition, the CFS 105 is configured to setup andactivate a call forwarding service, and obtain authorization for thecall forwarding service, in response to receiving a call forwardingrequest message. In some examples, the CFS 105 is a telephonyapplication server (e.g., a dedicated call forwarding applicationserver, a distributed application server, or an application server usedfor call forwarding and for other application services), while in otherexamples, the CFS 105 forms part of a telephone exchange and thefunctions described as being performed by the CFS 105 are performed invarious components and switches of the telephone exchange.

In addition, the telephony network 101 can include other components usedin providing the call forwarding service. In particular, in the exampleshown in FIG. 1, the telephony network 101 is an IP multimedia subsystem(IMS) network that includes one or more of a call forwarding record 107,a call session control function (CSCF) server 109, a media resourcefunction (MRF) server 111, an interactive voice response (IVR) server113, and one or more messaging service center (MSC) server(s) 115. Forconvenience, other known elements in the telephony network 101 (such asadditional servers, routers, and base stations) that are not relevant tothis discussion have been omitted for convenience.

The call forwarding record 107 includes one or more entriescorresponding to authorized and activated call forwarding requests. Eachentry in the record 107 includes a pair of an originating TN and aterminating TN, such that communications addressed to the originating TNof a record entry are forwarded to a UE associated with thecorresponding terminating TN of the record entry. In general, the callforwarding record 107 is connected to (or otherwise communicativelyaccessible by) the call forwarding CFS 105 such that the CFS 105 canupdate the record 107 to include a new call forwarding entry when a callforwarding service is requested and authorized, or to remove a callforwarding entry when a call forwarding service is deactivated orotherwise discontinued. The call forwarding CFS 105 may also consult therecord 107 to determine whether a call forwarding entry associated witha particular TN exists, to determine the terminating TN associated withthe entry if an entry exists, and to forward communications addressed tothe particular TN to the UE associated with the terminating TN asneeded. The call forwarding record 107 may additionally or alternativelybe accessed by other systems of the telephony network 101, such asswitches used for routing calls between TNs and UE terminals connectedto and communicating through the telephony network 101.

The call forwarding record 107 may indicate which types ofcommunications should be forwarded to the terminating TN. Forwardedcommunications may include telephone calls, telephone conference calls,messaging service messages (e.g., short messaging service (SMS)messages, multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages, enhancedmessaging service (EMS) messages, or the like). In general, allcommunications addressed to the originating TN may be forwarded to theterminating TN. In some embodiments, however, only telephone calls andtelephone conference calls may be forwarded to the terminating TN. Inother embodiments, the call forwarding record 107 may specify theparticular types of communications that should be forwarded to theterminating TN (e.g., calls, messages (or particular types of messages:SMS, MMS, EMS), or both), such that only the specified communicationsare forwarded. In other embodiments, the call forwarding record 107 mayspecify different terminating TNs for different types of communications,for example such that calls are forwarded to a first terminating TNwhile messages are forwarded to a different second terminating TN.

The particular types of communications that should be forwarded may bedetermined based on user preference information associated with a TN orwith a user account. The user preference information may be stored in auser preference database, and retrieved by the CFS 105 during the setupof a call forwarding service to as to configure the call forwardingservice according to the stored information. The preference informationmay be based on past settings used with the TN or user account whensetting up call forwarding services. The preference information may bebased on pre-configured preference information provided by a user via acall forwarding application (e.g., a call forwarding application runningon UE terminal 103, or through a web portal).

Alternatively, the particular types of communications that should beforwarded may be identified in a forwarding request transmitted to theCFS 105. Thus, a forwarding request received by the CFS 105 may indicatewhether all, or only certain types of, communications should beforwarded. In one example, the types of communications to be forwardedare identified in a code (e.g., a dial-tone code) included in theforwarding request, for example by dialing “*72#1” for allcommunications to be forwarded, dialing “*72#2” for only voicecommunications (e.g., telephone calls) to be forwarded, or dialing“*72#3” for only messaging communications to be forwarded. Thus, theforwarding request may include a generalized forwarding instructionportion (e.g., “*72”) indicating that forwarding is to occur and aspecialized forwarding instruction portion (e.g., “#1”) indicating thetype of forwarding selected. In other embodiments, the forwardingrequests may be wholly individualized (e.g., besides the “*” entirelydifferent dial codes). In another example, the types of communicationsto be forwarded may be identified by a user using a call forwardingapplication.

In some examples, the call forwarding record 107 is a database stored ina server that is communicatively coupled to the telephony network 101,to the CFS 105, to the MSC 115, and to switches used for routing callsthrough the telephone network 101. The call forwarding record 107 may bea database stored in a dedicated, standalone server, or a databasestored in the CFS 105, for example. In other examples, the callforwarding record 107 is distributed across multiple servers, such thatthe call forwarding record is a collection of call forwarding recordsthat are not necessarily stored in a single database, server, orlocation. In one such example, call forwarding entries are stored in oneor more home location registers (HLR), switches, or control nodes of thetelephony network 101, such that each call forwarding entrycorresponding to an authorized and activated call forwarding request isstored as part of a call processing control record associated with theoriginating TN in a home switch or control node of network 101. In theexample, if a communication addressed to the originating TN is receivedin the telephony network 101, the home switch or control node determinesthat the communication should be forwarded to the terminating TN basedon the information stored in the call processing control entryassociated with the originating TN, and the communication is thusredirected to the terminating TN.

The call session control function (CSCF) server 109 processes signalingmessages in the telephony network 101, including session initiationprotocol (SIP) signaling messages. In particular, the CSCF 109 mayprocess signaling messages in an IMS network associated with thetelephony network 101. In one example, the CSCF 109 may process andrelay messages related to a call forwarding service, such as messagesexchanged between a UE 103 and the call forwarding CFS 105. In theexample, the CSCF 109 receives a call forwarding request message for thecall forwarding service from an initiating UE 103 a, and forwards therequest message to the CFS 105. The CSCF 109 receives the callforwarding response message from the CFS 105, and forwards the requestmessage to an initiating UE 103 a. The CSCF can also perform processingof the messages, so as to determine an appropriate forwardingdestination and format for each processed message.

The media resource function (MRF) server 111 provides media-relatedservices on the telephony network 101. In one example, the MRF 111 cangenerate tones and/or other audio or media related outputs for use ontelephony network 101. In the example, once a call forwarding servicehas been enabled for an initiating TN, the MRF 111 may in response toreceiving a forwarding enable message generate and transmit to a UEassociated with the initiating TN a confirmation tone indicating thatthe call forwarding service has successfully been authorized and enabledor activated. The MRF 111 may, in response to receiving the forwardingenable message, send a forwarding enable acknowledgement message to thecall forwarding CFS 105.

The interactive voice response (IVR) server 113 provides interactivevoice response services for use with UE terminals 103 on the telephonynetwork 101. The IVR 113 can, in response to receiving an IVR request,make a telephone call to a UE 103 associated with the TN included in theIVR request, offer a series of interactive voice prompts, receive one ormore responses from a user (e.g., in the form of keypad presses on ortones from the UE 103, in the form of voice responses processed by avoice recognition unit, or the like), and based on the receivedresponses, adjust the offered series of interactive voice prompts and/orreport the received responses to a server or other element of the callforwarding system 100.

The messaging service center (MSC) server(s) 115 provides messagingservices for use with UE terminals 103 on the telephony network 101. TheMSC server(s) 115 may include one or more of each of a short messageservice center (SMSC) server, a multimedia message service center (MMSC)server, an enhanced message service center (EMSC) server, or the like.The messaging service servers may receive messaging service messages(e.g., short messaging service (SMS) messages, multimedia messagingservice (MMS) messages, enhanced messaging service (EMS) messages, orthe like) from UE terminals 103 of the telephony network 101 fortransmission to other UE terminals 103 of the same or other telephonynetworks. The messaging service servers may also receive messagingservice messages from other telephony networks for transmission to UEterminals 103 of network 101, and transmit the receive messages to theEU terminals 103.

In embodiments in which messaging service messages addressed to one ormore TNs are to be forwarded, the MSC 115 may cause the messages to beforwarded to respective terminating TNs based on the call forwardingrecord 107. In particular, when the MSC 115 receives a messaging servicemessage addressed to a destination TN, the MSC 115 may check the callforwarding record 107 for any entries having the destination TN as anoriginating TN. If a matching entry is located, the MSC 115 determineswhether the entry applies to the type of the message and, if the entryapplies to the type of message, the MSC 115 forwards the message to theterminating TN identified in the matching entry. If the matching entrydoes not apply to the type of message, the MSC 115 sends the message tothe original destination TN identified in the message. In general, thecall forwarding record 107 may be a database communicatively coupled tothe MSC 115. In some embodiments, however, the call forwarding record107 may include a local database stored in the MSC 115. In suchembodiments, the local database may store the call forwarding record107, a copy of the call forwarding record 107, or those entries of thecall forwarding record 107 that pertain to the forwarding of messagingservice messages. In such embodiments, each time the call forwardingserver 105 receives an authorization response message authorizing a callforwarding service (or a call forwarding service including forwarding ofmessaging service messages), the call forwarding server 105 may transmitto the MSC 115 instructions to update the local database to include acorresponding call forwarding entry.

FIG. 2 illustratively shows a communication flow of a method 200 usedfor setting up and authorizing a call forwarding service. According tothe method 200, a call forwarding service is requested and authorized toenable call forwarding from an originating TN (e.g., a TN associatedwith a first UE 103 a) to a terminating TN (e.g., a TN associated with asecond UE 103 b).

The method 200 begins with the generation of a request for a callforwarding service, the request including an initiating TN and aterminating TN. In step 201, the forwarding request is received by theCSCF 109. In general, the forwarding request may be generated in a firstUE 103 a associated with the initiating TN, and transmitted through thetelephony network 101 from the first UE 103 a to the call forwarding CFS105 via the CSCF 109. The forwarding request may be a dial-tone commandmessage (e.g., a sequence of dial tones including a code for callforwarding services, such as a “*72” dial code), a text message, or thelike that is received through the telephony network 101. In someexamples, the forwarding request may be generated in an applicationprogram running on the UE 103 a or in another computer system, and maytake the form of a text message, an SIP, or another type of IP-basedcommunication transmitted through the telephony network and/or throughanother network (e.g., the Internet). The forwarding request mayindicate whether all communications addressed to the initiating TNshould be forwarded, or whether only certain types of communicationsshould be forwarded (e.g., forward only voice communications, forwardvoice and SMS only, forward voice and MMS only, forward SMS only,forward MMS only, or the like).

The forwarding request includes the initiating TN. In examples in whichthe forwarding request is generated in the first UE 103 a, theinitiating TN may be the TN of the source UE having sent the dial-toneor text message forwarding request (i.e., as an indicator of the UE 103a from which the request was transmitted). In examples in which theforwarding request is generated in an application program, theinitiating TN generally is a TN associated with a user account used togenerate the forwarding request, and may or may not correspond to the TNassociated with a UE 103 a running the application program.

The forwarding request also includes the terminating TN, for example asa telephone number entered as part of a dial-tone code message (e.g., aphone number entered immediately following a “*72” dial code), as partof the body of a text message forwarding request, or as a phone numberentered by a user in the application program used to generate theforwarding request.

The forwarding request is received in the CSCF 109, and forwarded orprocessed and forwarded by the CSCF 109 to the call forwarding CFS 105at step 203. The forwarding request may simply be forwarded to the CFS105 if the forwarding request is received by the CSCF 109 in a formatcompatible with the messaging and control protocol used forcommunications between the CSCF 109 and the CFS 105. Alternatively, thereceived forwarding request may be processed by the CSCF 109 prior toforwarding in order to convert the request into a format compatible withthe messaging and control protocol used by the CSCF 109 and the CFS 105.The CSCF receives the forwarding request as an SIP message including theoriginating and terminating TNs, and forwards the SIP request to the CFS105. In yet another example, the forwarding request generated in anapplication program is transmitted directly from the application programto the CFS 105, e.g. as a packet-based IP transmission transmittedthrough the Internet, without passing through the CSCF 109.

The forwarding request is received and processed in the CFS 105 in step205. The CFS 105 receives the forwarding request from the CSCF 109, andidentifies the request as a call forwarding request (e.g., based on therequest including a call forward code, such as a “*72” code). The CFS105 then retrieves from the forwarding request the terminating TN, andgenerates a call forwarding authorization request message for theterminating TN. In general, the authorization request message identifiesthe originating TN and the terminating TN. The authorization requestalso identifies the CFS 105.

In some embodiments, as part of processing a received forwarding requestin step 205, the CFS 105 determines whether the terminating TN (referredto here as the first terminating TN) already has an associated callforwarding service enabled. In particular, the CFS 105 may check thecall forwarding record 107 for any entries corresponding to callforwarding service in which communications addressed to the firstterminating TN are forwarded to another TN (referred to here as a secondterminating TN). In a first example, if the CFS 105 determines that thecall forwarding record 107 already includes an entry for forwarding tothe second terminating TN the communications addressed to the firstterminating TN, the CFS 105 may generate and send the new callforwarding authorization request message to the second terminating TN.In the first example, the CFS 105 may additionally send a notificationor other message to the first UE 103 a to notify the first UE 103 a thatthe forwarding request has been transmitted to the second terminatingTN. In a second example, if the CFS 105 determines that the callforwarding record 107 already includes an entry for forwarding to thesecond terminating TN the communications addressed to the firstterminating TN, the CFS 105 may not authorize the forwarding ofcommunications addressed to the first terminating TN. In the secondexample, the CFS 105 may send a notification or other message to thefirst UE 103 a to notify the first UE 103 a that the forwarding requesthas not been authorized, to as to enable the first UE 103 a to transmita new forwarding request including a different terminating TN.

The CFS 105 transmits the authorization request in step 207. Theauthorization request is generally transmitted by the CFS 105 throughthe telephony network 101 to the terminating TN, or to a second UE 103 bassociated with the terminating TN. In some examples, however, theauthorization request may be transmitted through the telephony network101 or another network (e.g., the Internet) to an internet address(e.g., internet protocol (IP) address) or other destination associatedwith the terminating TN. In such examples, the CFS 105 may consult adatabase to retrieve an identification of an IP address, or otherdestination associated with the terminating TN. The authorizationrequest may be transmitted as a messaging service message, a SIPcommunication, a packet message (e.g., an IP communication), or anyother appropriate format. The authorization request may also betransmitted as an IVR prompt to an IVR server 113 that can maketelephone calls to the UE 103 b associated with the terminating TN. Theformat of the authorization request may be determined by the CFS 105based on the type of telephone service associated with the terminatingTN (e.g., mobile vs. landline phone service), and/or on the type ofterminal or address to which the authorization request is being sent.For example, the authorization request may be transmitted as an IVRprompt when the terminating TN and/or associated UE is associated withlandline phone service, as a text message when the terminating TN and/orassociated UE is associated with mobile phone service, or as a SIP orone or more IP-based packets when the terminating TN and/or associatedUE is associated with a SIP, IP, or other internet address oridentifier. The format of the authorization request may alternatively bedetermined based on a user preference information, such as preferenceinformation included in the forwarding request transmitted from thefirst UE 103 a, or preference information associated with theoriginating TN and/or with the terminating TN and retrieved from a userpreference database by the CFS 105.

In step 209, the authorization request is received and an authorizationprompt is presented to a user or UE associated with the terminating TN.As shown in FIG. 2, step 209 may be performed on the second UE 103 b,and may include displaying a prompt to a user of the UE 103 b forauthorizing call forwarding to the UE associated with the terminatingTN. The prompt may identify one or both of the originating TN and theterminating TN. The prompt may be presented in the form of an IVR promptfrom IVR server 113, or a messaging service message received on thesecond UE 103 b from a messaging service server. In examples in whichthe authorization request is received in a UE 103 b running a callforwarding application, the call forwarding application may present theprompt as an application message presented on the second UE 103 b inresponse to receiving the authorization request as a text, SIP, orpacket-based message and identifying the authorization request as amessage received from the call forwarding CFS 105. In examples in whichthe authorization request is received in a computer or other systemrunning a call forwarding application, the prompt may be presented as anapplication message by the computer or other system. The call forwardingapplication may begin execution on the UE 103 b, the computer, or othersystem in response to determining that the received request is a callforwarding authorization request.

In response to the authorization prompt being presented to the user, auser response to the prompt is received at the associated UE. Theresponse may be received in the form of an audio/verbal response or adial tone response (e.g., in the case of an IVR prompt), a messagingservice reply message, a user selection in an application program, orthe like. In response to receiving the user response, an authorizationresponse message including the user response is transmitted to the CFS105 in step 211. The authorization response message can be transmittedas a messaging service message from a user equipment associated with theterminating TN, as a SIP communication, an IP communication from a userequipment or computer terminal running an application program having auser account associated with the termination TN, and as an IVR promptselection from a user equipment terminal associated with the terminatingTN, or the like. The authorization response is transmitted to an SIPaddress, IP address, or other identifier or address for the CFS 105which was included in the authorization request at step 207. Theauthorization response includes identification for the particular callforwarding request the response pertains to, such as identification ofthe terminating TN, a tag associated with the forwarding request, oranother identifier included in the authorization request transmitted bythe CFS 105. If no response to the authorization prompt is received fromthe user at the associated UE 103 b within a predetermined timeoutperiod, the UE may automatically send an authorization response messageto the CFS 105 indicating that the call forwarding service is notauthorized.

Upon receiving the authorization response message, the CFS 105determines whether the user response authorizes or does not authorizethe call forwarding service.

If the user response authorizes the call forwarding service, in step213, the CFS 105 enables call forwarding service for the initiating TNto the terminating TN included in the forwarding request. In particular,the CFS 105 may update the call forwarding record 107 to include anentry including the initiating TN and the terminating TN, such thatcommunications received for the initiating TN through the telephonynetwork 101 are directed to a UE associated with the terminating TN. Theentry in the call forwarding record 107 may include an indication of thetype(s) of communications that should be forwarded (e.g., allcommunications, voice calls only, messaging service messages only,etc.).

If the user authorizes the call forwarding service, as part ofprocessing a received forwarding request in step 213, the CFS 105 candetermine whether the originating TN already has an associated callforwarding service enabled. In particular, the CFS 105 may check thecall forwarding record 107 for any entries corresponding to callforwarding service in which communications addressed to the firstoriginating TN are forwarded to another TN. If the CFS 105 determinesthat the call forwarding record 107 includes a pre-existent entry forforwarding communications addressed to the first terminating TN, the CFS105 may delete the pre-existent entry from the call forwarding record107 and replace the deleted entry with a call forwarding record 107corresponding to the newly authorized call forwarding service.

If the user response does not authorize the call forwarding service, theCFS 105 does not enable call forwarding service for the initiating TN.Alternatively, if no authorization response is received from the UE 103b at the CFS 105 within a timeout period, the CFS 105 does not enablecall forwarding service for the initiating TN. The timeout period may bea predetermined timeout period, or an adjustable or variable timeoutperiod. For example, the timeout period may be dependent on theoriginating TN and/or terminating TN (e.g., dependent OD user preferenceinformation associated with the originating TN and/or terminating TN),or on the type of address or type of user equipment terminal to whichthe authorization request was transmitted. For instance, the timeoutperiod may be set to the time of 8 telephone rings (or an equivalenttime period) if the authorization request is transmitted as an IVRprompt; the timeout period may be set to 10 minutes if the authorizationrequest is transmitted as a messaging service message; and the timeoutperiod may be set to 12 hours if the authorization request istransmitted to a computer terminal, IP address, or the like.

Whether or not the call forwarding service is authorized, the CFS 105may optionally generate and send a forwarding response message to thedevice or entity having generated the forwarding request message (e.g.,to UE 103 a). The forwarding response message either includesconfirmation that the call forwarding service for the initiating TN hasbeen authorized and enabled, or that the call forwarding service to theterminating TN has not been authorized. The forwarding response messagemay optionally also include a reason for which the call forwardingservice is not authorized, such as an indication that the forwardingservice is not authorized because a user response not authorizing theforwarding was received, because a UE associated with the terminating TNcould not be reached, or because a timeout occurred. In one example, theforwarding response is sent in steps 215 and 217, via the CFCS 109, tothe first UE 103 a associated with the initiating TN and havinggenerated and transmitted the forwarding request. In other examples, theforwarding response may be sent via IVR server 113, to the first UE 103a, or sent via packet-based communications to an application program fora UE or a user account associated with the originating TN.

Additional to or instead of sending the forwarding response message, ifthe user response authorizes the call forwarding service, the CFS 105can send forwarding enable messages identifying the originating TN tothe MRF server 111 in step 219 a and/or to the MSC server 115 in step219 b. The forwarding enable messages may be sent by the CFS dependingon user preference information associated with the originating TN, forexample. Each forwarding enable message includes a request to forward atelephony tone or messaging service message to the UE 103 a associatedwith the initiating TN. In response to receiving the forwarding enablemessages, the MRF server 111 and MSC server 115 respectively transmit insteps 223 a and 223 b a telephony tone and a messaging service messageto the UE 103 a associated with the initiating TN to indicate that thecall forwarding service was successfully established. In steps 221 a and221 b, the MRF server 111 and MSC server 115 may optionally send aforwarding enable acknowledgment message to the CFS 105 to confirmreceipt of the forwarding enable message, and/or to confirm that atelephony tone or messaging service message was successfully sent to theinitiating TN.

The above description of FIG. 2 has focused on an illustrative examplein which a call forwarding service is requested from an initiating TN(e.g., a TN associated with a first UE 103 a) to initiate forwarding ofcalls to a terminating TN (e.g., a TN associated with a second UE 103b). However, method 200 may alternatively be used to request a callforwarding service from a terminating TN, to initiate forwarding ofcalls to the terminating TN. In the alternative example, the forwardingrequest message of step 201 may be transmitted from a first UE 103 athat is associated with the terminating TN, and the request may includethe terminating TN as well as the initiating TN. The request mayinclude, for example, a code indicating that it is being initiated fromthe terminating TN. Upon receiving the forwarding request message, theCFS 105 may process the request (step 205) and transmit an authorizationrequest message to the initiating TN (or to a UE associated with theoriginating TN). Upon receiving authorization for the forwarding servicefrom the initiating TN, the CFS 105 may enable the call forwardingservice in step 213 such that calls addressed to the initiating TN areforwarded to a UE associated with the terminating TN.

In order to enable a call forwarding service, authorization may notalways be required. In some embodiments, forwarding request messages mayindicate whether or not authorization should be obtained, for example byusing different command messages or codes depending on whether or notauthorization should be sought or obtained. In other embodiments, anauthorization option may be provided to the initiating TN (or other UEor TN requesting the call forwarding service) such that authorization issought only if the option is selected. The authorization option may takethe form of a check box or other user selectable option in anapplication program used to request call forwarding services, or theform of a request generated in the CFS 105, sent to the UE 103 arequesting the call forwarding service, and requesting a user selectionto require or not to require authorization. The authorization may beperformed, or not performed, based on user preference information suchas preference information associated with the originating TN and/or withthe terminating TN and retrieved from a user preference database by theCFS 105. In one example, the user preference database may be stored ormaintained in a same server or database as the call forwarding record117. Alternatively, an authorization option may be provided to the UE orTN requesting the call forwarding service based on the user preferenceinformation. For instance, the user preference information may include alist of restricted TNs for which forwarding may be blocked, for whichforwarding authorization is not required, for which forwardingauthorization is required, or the like. The authorization may beperformed, or not performed, based on the source of or format of aforwarding request received in the CSCF 109 or CFS 105. For example,call forwarding requests received as dial-tone command messages mayrequire authorization, while call forwarding requests received as SMS orSIP messages may not require authorization. Various combinations of theauthorization modalities described herein may also be used to determinewhether or not to perform call forwarding authorization.

FIG. 3 illustrates a system 10 offering a variety of communicationservices, including communications for setting up and authorizing callforwarding services for landline and mobile station users. The exampleshows simply two mobile stations (MSs) 13 a and 13 b as well as a mobilecommunication network 15. The example further shows landline telephone21 as well as public switched telephone network (PSTN) 19. The stations13 a and 13 b and telephone 21 are examples of user equipment terminals(such as UEs 103 a, 103 b, 103 c of FIG. 1) that may be used for thecall forward authorization service. However, the networks will providesimilar communications for many other similar terminals and users aswell as for devices/users that do not participate in the call forwardauthorization service. The network 15 provides mobile wirelesscommunications services to those stations as well as to other mobilestations (not shown), for example, via a number of base stations (BSs),eNodeBs, or the like 17. The present techniques may be implemented inany of a variety of available mobile and wired networks 15 and 19,and/or on any type of user equipment terminal compatible with suchnetworks 15/19, and the drawing shows only a very simplified example ofa few relevant elements of the networks 15/19 for purposes of discussionhere.

The wireless mobile communication network 15 might be implemented as anetwork conforming to the IMS standard, or as a network conforming toany of the code division multiple access (CDMA) IS-95 standard, the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) wireless IP network standard orthe Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO) standard, the 3GPP LTE standard, the4G LTE, the Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication standard, atime division multiple access (TDMA) standard or other standards usedfor public mobile wireless communications. The mobile stations 13 andtelephone terminals 21 are capable of voice telephone communicationsthrough the networks 15/19, and for the call forward authorizationservices, the exemplary devices 13 a, 13 b, and 21 are capable of one ormore of dial-tone, messaging service, or data communications through theparticular type of networks 15/19.

The networks 15/19 allow users of the mobile stations 13 (and othermobile stations not shown) and telephones 21 to initiate and receivetelephone calls to each other. The network 15 typically offers a varietyof data services via the Internet 23, such as downloads, web browsing,email, etc. The networks 15/19 also allow users of the mobile stations13 and telephones 21 to request and authorize call forwarding services,either directly through the networks using dial-tone based codes ormessaging service messages, or indirectly using application programsrunning on mobile stations 13, computers 27, or other user terminals. Byway of example, the drawing shows a laptop PC type user terminal 27 aswell as a server 25 connected through the Internet 23 to the mobiletraffic network 15 and other network 29. The mobile stations 13 a and 13b of users of the call forward authorization service also can receiveand execute applications written in various programming languages.

Mobile stations 13 can take the form of portable handsets, smart-phonesor personal digital assistants, although they may be implemented inother form factors. Mobile stations 13 may have text messaging or othermessaging service capabilities, including the ability to transmit callforwarding requests, receive authorization requests, present callforwarding authorization prompts to users and receive user responses,transmit authorization responses, and receive forwarding responsemessages as part of the call forwarding authorization service. Programapplications, including an application to assist in the call forwardauthorization service can be stored in non-volatile memories of manydifferent types of mobile stations 13, and configured to execute onprocessors of the mobile stations 13. For example, a mobile stationapplication providing call forwarding functionality can be written toexecute on a binary runtime environment for mobile (BREW-based) mobilestation, a Windows Mobile based mobile station, Android, I-Phone, JavaMobile, or RIM based mobile station such as a BlackBerry or the like.Some of these types of devices can employ a multi-tasking operatingsystem.

The carrier will also operate a number of systems that provide functionsin support of the communications services and/or application servicesprovided through the network 10, and those elements communicate withother nodes or elements of the network 10 via one or more private IPtype packet data networks 29 (sometimes referred to as an Intranet),i.e., a private networks. Generally, such systems are part of orconnected for communication via the private network 29. Systems outsideof the private network could serve the same functions as well. Examplesof such systems, in this case operated by the network service provideras part of the overall network 10, which communicate through theintranet type network 29, include one or more telephony servers 31 (suchas call forwarding CFS 105), CSCF servers 32, MRF servers 33, MSCservers 34, and related authentication and IVR servers as needed tosupport the call forwarding application service of server 31.

The call forwarding authorization service may be hosted on a carrieroperated server 31, for communication via the networks 15, 19, and 29.Alternatively, the call forwarding authorization service may be providedby a separate entity (alone or through agreements with the carrier), inwhich case, the service may be hosted on a server such as server 25connected for communication via the Internet 23 to networks 15, 19, and29. Servers such as 25 and 31 may provide a variety of commonapplication or service functions in support of or in addition to callforwarding requests and responses, and authorization requests andresponses received from stations 13 or telephone 21. For example,servers 25 and 31 may provide application or service functions insupport of a call forwarding application program running on a mobilestation 13, or on a computer 27 or other terminal running the callforwarding application program. Servers 25 and 31 may further be incommunication with one or more of a call forwarding record, a CSCFserver, a MRF server, an IVR server, or the like, in support of the callforwarding service.

In some examples, a call forwarding application program may run on amobile station 13 or a computer 27 communicating through the overallnetwork 10. In such examples, implementation of the call forwardingauthorization service will involve at least some execution ofprogramming in the mobile station 13 or computer 27 as well asimplementation of user input/output functions and data communicationsthrough the network 15, from the mobile station 13, or through thenetwork 23, from the computer 27.

As shown by the above discussion, functions relating to the enhancedcall forwarding authorization service may be implemented on computersconnected for data communication via the components of a packet datanetwork, for example, operating as the call forwarding server CFS 105and 31, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. Although special purpose devicesmay be used, such devices also may be implemented using one or morehardware platforms intended to represent a general class of dataprocessing device commonly used to run “server” programming so as toimplement the server implemented call forwarding authorization functionsdiscussed above, albeit with an appropriate network connection for datacommunication.

A general-purpose computer typically comprises a central processor orother processing device, an internal communication bus, various types ofmemory or storage media (RAM. ROM, EEPROM, cache memory, disk drivesetc.) for code and data storage, and one or more network interface cardsor ports for communication purposes. The software functionalitiesinvolve programming, including executable code as well as associatedstored data, e.g. files used for call forwarding authorization. Thesoftware code is executable by the general-purpose computer thatfunctions as the call forwarding server. In operation, the code isstored within the general-purpose computer platform. At other times,however, the software may be stored at other locations and/ortransported for loading into the appropriate general-purpose computersystem. Execution of such code by a processor of the computer platformenables the platform to implement the methodology for call forwardingauthorization, in essentially the manner performed in theimplementations discussed and illustrated herein.

FIGS. 4 and 5 provide functional block diagram illustrations of generalpurpose computer hardware platforms. FIG. 4 illustrates a network orhost computer platform, as may typically be used to implement a server.FIG. 5 depicts a computer with user interface elements, as may be usedto implement a mobile station, personal computer, or other type of workstation or terminal device, although the computer of FIG. 5 may also actas a server if appropriately programmed.

A server, for example, includes a data communication interface forpacket data communication. The server also includes a central processingunit (CPU), in the form of one or more processors, for executing programinstructions. The server platform typically includes an internalcommunication bus, program storage and data storage for various datafiles to be processed and/or communicated by the server, although theserver often receives programming and data via network communications.Of course, the server functions may be implemented in a distributedfashion on a number of similar platforms, to distribute the processingload.

Hence, aspects of the methods of the call forwarding authorizationoutlined above may be embodied in programming. Program aspects of thetechnology may be thought of as “products” or “articles of manufacture”typically in the form of executable code and/or associated data that iscarried on or embodied in a type of machine readable medium. “Storage”type media include any or all of the tangible memory of the computers,processors or the like, or associated modules thereof, such as varioussemiconductor memories, tape drives, disk drives and the like, which mayprovide non-transitory storage at any time for the software programming.All or portions of the software may at times be communicated through theInternet or various other telecommunication networks. Suchcommunications, for example, may enable loading of the software from onecomputer or processor into another, for example, from a managementserver or host computer of the service provider into the computerplatform of the call forwarding server. Thus, another type of media thatmay bear the software elements includes optical, electrical andelectromagnetic waves, such as used across physical interfaces betweenlocal devices, through wired and optical landline networks and overvarious air-links. The physical elements that carry such waves, such aswired or wireless links, optical links or the like, also may beconsidered as media bearing the software. As used herein, unlessrestricted to non-transitory, tangible “storage” media, terms such ascomputer or machine “readable medium” refer to any medium thatparticipates in providing instructions to a processor for execution.

Hence, a machine readable medium may take many forms, including but notlimited to, a tangible storage medium, a carrier wave medium or physicaltransmission medium. Non-volatile storage media include, for example,optical or magnetic disks, such as any of the storage devices in anycomputer(s) or the like, such as may be used to implement the callforward authorization server shown in the drawings. Volatile storagemedia include dynamic memory, such as main memory of such a computerplatform. Tangible transmission media include coaxial cables; copperwire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a bus within acomputer system. Carrier-wave transmission media can take the form ofelectric or electromagnetic signals, or acoustic or light waves such asthose generated during radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) datacommunications. Common forms of computer-readable media thereforeinclude for example: a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetictape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD or DVD-ROM, any otheroptical medium, punch cards paper tape, any other physical storagemedium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM,any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave transporting data orinstructions, cables or links transporting such a carrier wave, or anyother medium from which a computer can read programming code and/ordata. Many of these forms of computer readable media may be involved incarrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to aprocessor for execution.

While the foregoing has described what are considered to be the bestmode and/or other examples, it is understood that various modificationsmay be made therein and that the subject matter disclosed herein may beimplemented in various forms and examples, and that the teachings may beapplied in numerous applications, only some of which have been describedherein. It is intended by the following claims to claim any and allapplications, modifications and variations that fall within the truescope of the present teachings.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising steps of: receiving a requestfor a call forwarding service in a call forwarding server of a telephonynetwork, the request including an initiating telephone number (TN) and aterminating TN; in response to receiving the request, generating andsending from the call forwarding server an authorization request for theterminating TN; receiving, in the call forwarding server, anauthorization response authorizing the call forwarding service to theterminating TN; and in response to receiving the authorization response:sending from the call forwarding server a forwarding response to theinitiating TN indicating the call forwarding service is authorized;enabling, in the call forwarding server, call forwarding for acommunication addressed for the initiating TN through the telephonynetwork to the terminating TN; upon enabling the call forwardingservice, causing a forwarding success message to be sent to theinitiating TN indicating the call forwarding service is established;receiving a further request for another call forwarding service in thecall forwarding server of the telephony network, the further requestincluding the initiating TN and another terminating TN; in response toreceiving the further request, generating and sending from the callforwarding server another authorization request for the otherterminating TN; and in response to not receiving another authorizationresponse authorizing the other call forwarding service, sending from thecall forwarding server another response to the initiating TN indicatinga user response not authorizing the other call forwarding.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein at least one of the steps of generating and sendingan authorization request for a respective terminating TN comprisesgenerating and sending an authorization request through the telephonynetwork to the respective terminating TN.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein at least one of the steps of generating and sending anauthorization request for a respective terminating TN comprisesgenerating and sending an authorization request to an internet addressassociated with the respective terminating TN.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein at least one of the requests for the call forwarding service isreceived through the telephony network from user equipment associatedwith the initiating TN.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least oneof the requests for the call forwarding service is received from userequipment or a computer terminal running an application program having auser account associated with the initiating TN.
 6. The method of claim1, wherein at least one of the steps of generating and sending anauthorization request for a respective terminating TN comprises at leastone of: generating a messaging service (MS) message requestingauthorization for the call forwarding service, and sending the MSmessage addressed to the respective terminating TN; generating a sessioninitiation protocol (SIP) communication requesting authorization for thecall forwarding service, and sending the SIP communication addressed tothe respective terminating TN; generating an internet protocol (IP)communication requesting authorization for the call forwarding service,and sending the IP communication to an internet address or a useraccount associated with the respective terminating TN; or generating aninteractive voice response (IVR) prompt requesting authorization for thecall forwarding service, and sending the IVR prompt to a user equipmentterminal associated with the respective terminating TN.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the step of receiving the authorization responseauthorizing the call forwarding service to the terminating TN comprisesat least one of: receiving a messaging service (MS) message from a userequipment associated with the terminating TN authorizing the callforwarding service to the terminating TN; receiving a session initiationprotocol (SIP) communication for the terminating TN authorizing the callforwarding service to the terminating TN; receiving an internet protocol(IP) communication, from a user equipment or computer terminal runningan application program having a user account associated with theterminating TN, authorizing the call forwarding service to theterminating TN; or receiving an interactive voice response (IVR) promptselection from a user equipment terminal associated with the terminatingTN authorizing the call forwarding service to the terminating TN.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising a step of: in response toreceiving the authorization response authorizing the call forwardingservice, sending a forwarding enable message identifying the initiatingTN to a media resource function (MRF) server, wherein the forwardingenable message includes a request to forward a telephony tone to a userequipment associated with the initiating TN.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the step of enabling call forwarding further comprises steps of:updating a call forwarding record used by the telephony network toimplement call forwarding, to include an entry including the initiatingTN and the terminating TN; and forwarding at least one communicationreceived for the initiating TN through the telephony network to theterminating TN based on the entry in the call forwarding record.
 10. Anarticle of manufacture comprising: programming to configure a callforwarding server to implement the method of claim 1; and anon-transitory machine readable medium embodying the programming. 11.The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of notifying theinitiating TN of a second forwarding response upon the call beingforwarded by the terminating TN to a second other terminating TN.
 12. Asystem comprising: a telephony network for providing communicationservices between user equipment terminals; and a call forwarding server,in communication with the telephony network, configured to performfunctions including functions to: receive a request for a callforwarding service, the request including an initiating telephone number(TN) and a terminating TN; in response to receiving the request,generate and send an authorization request for the terminating TN;receive an authorization response authorizing the call forwardingservice to the terminating TN; in response to receiving theauthorization response: send a forwarding response to the initiating TNindicating that the call forwarding service is authorized; enable callforwarding for a communication addressed for the initiating TN throughthe telephony network to the terminating TN, upon enabling the callforwarding service, cause a forwarding success message to be sent to theinitiating TN indicating the call forwarding service is established;receive a further request for another call forwarding service in thecall forwarding server of the telephony network, the further requestincludes the initiating TN and another terminating TN; in response toreceiving the further request, generate and send from the callforwarding server another authorization request for the otherterminating TN; and in response to not receiving another authorizationresponse authorizing the other call forwarding service, send from thecall forwarding server another response to the initiating TN indicatinga user response not authorizing the other call forwarding.
 13. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein at least one of the functions to generateand send an authorization request for the terminating TN comprises afunction to generate and send an authorization request through thetelephony network to the respective terminating TN.
 14. The system ofclaim 12, wherein at least one of the functions to generate and send anauthorization request for the respective terminating TN comprises afunction to generate and send an authorization request to an internetaddress associated with the respective terminating TN.
 15. The system ofclaim 12, wherein at least one of the requests for the call forwardingservice is received through the telephony network from user equipmentassociated with the initiating TN.
 16. The system of claim 12, whereinat least one the requests for the call forwarding service is receivedfrom user equipment or computer terminal running an application programhaving a user account associated with the initiating TN.
 17. The systemof claim 12, wherein at least one of the functions to generate and sendan authorization request for the terminating TN comprises at least onefunction to: generate a messaging service (MS) message requestingauthorization for the call forwarding service, and send the MS messageaddressed to the respective terminating TN; generate a sessioninitiation protocol (SIP) communication requesting authorization for thecall forwarding service, and send the SIP communication addressed to therespective terminating TN; generate an internet protocol (IP)communication requesting authorization for the call forwarding service,and send the IP communication to an internet address or a user accountassociated with the respective terminating TN; or generate aninteractive voice response (IVR) prompt requesting authorization for thecall forwarding service, and send the IVR prompt to a user equipmentterminal associated with the respective terminating TN.
 18. The systemof claim 12, wherein the function to receive the authorization responseauthorizing the call forwarding service to the terminating TN comprisesat least one function to: receive a messaging service (MS) message froma user equipment associated with the terminating TN authorizing the callforwarding service to the terminating TN; receive a session initiationprotocol (SIP) communication for the terminating TN authorizing the callforwarding service to the terminating TN; receive an internet protocol(IP) communication, from a user equipment or computer terminal runningan application program having a user account associated with theterminating TN, authorizing the call forwarding service to theterminating TN, or receive an interactive voice response (IVR) promptselection from a user equipment terminal associated with the terminatingTN authorizing the call forwarding service to the terminating TN. 19.The system of claim 12, further comprising a media resource function(MRF) server, wherein the call forwarding server is further configuredto perform a function to, in response to receiving the authorizationresponse authorizing the call forwarding service, send a forwardingenable message identifying the initiating TN to the MRF server, andwherein the forwarding enable message includes a request to forward atelephony tone to a user equipment associated with the initiating TN.20. The system of claim 12, wherein the function to enable callforwarding comprises functions to: update a call forwarding record usedby the telephony network to implement call forwarding, to include anentry including the initiating TN and the terminating TN; and forward atleast one communication received for the initiating TN through thetelephony network to the terminating TN based on the entry in the callforwarding record.